Pests of Stored Food Control © Frances Michaels

These include grain moths, flour moths, meal moths, almond moths, raisin moths, beetles and weevils. For problems with ants or cockroaches check for information under these headings.

Suggested Organic Strategies

• Check all purchased foodstuffs for possible infestation at the time of purchase. Telltale signs to look for include clumping or lumps in what should be a free-flowing product. However if the infestation is only in the egg stage there may be no visible clues.
• Suspect foods can be frozen for 4-7 days to kill most common food storage pests. You can store grains etc. long term in the freezer if there is room.
• Use pheromone traps such as the Pantry Moth Trap to detect the presence of these pests.
• Store all food in airtight jars. Lids that clip down or seal tightly are more effective at keeping pests out than screw-top jars.
• Try hanging small cloth sacks of black pepper in food storage cupboards as a repellent.
• Wipe all internal wood surfaces in cupboards with lavender oil.
• Regularly vacuum the interior of food cupboards to clean up any pupating insects.
• When an infested product is to be disposed of, first of all treat it by freezing. This will prevent the adult pests escaping from a rubbish bin to infest other stored foods.

Suggested Products:
Cockroach Products
Pantry Moth Trap